Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 Book Review
By David L. Veres
| Date of Review | March 2015 | Title | Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Author | Alexander Mladenov | Publisher | Osprey Publishing |
| Published | 2014 | ISBN | 9781782003748 |
| Format | 64 pages, softbound | MSRP (USD) | $18.95 |
Review
At least 11,000 were manufactured. It served in over 50 militaries. And it became a flashpoint fixture in aerial warfare for half a century.
It's the legendary MiG-21. And now it's the focus of handy little handbook from Osprey.
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 – 14th in the publisher's briskly budding "Air Vanguard" range – solidly surveys its subject in just 64 pages.
Contents roam from design & development through technical specifications to principal variants. A concluding chapter outlines MiG-21 operations during Indo-Pakistan, Vietnam and Arab-Israeli wars. And subsections summarize use over Afghanistan, Iraq and the former Yugoslavia.
Acutely absent, though, are operations in subsaharan Africa – notably Angolan and Ugandan actions. Yet Harpia Publishing's superb African MiGs volumes are cited for "further reading".
And introduction and conclusion bracket core contents. Photos, color profiles and action paintings illustrate the effort. Multiple tables, sidebars and extended captions augment the account. And a selected bibliography and index conclude contents.
If you're seeking a convenient, compact study of, arguably, the 20th Century's most important jet fighter, seek here.
Recommended!
My sincere thanks to Osprey Publishing for this review sample!